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Can anyone recommend a good crêpe place in Kuwait? Somewhere where I can have a Nutella and banana crêpe that looks like the picture below. I took this pictures in Lebanon on my last visit.

I went back to Tamiya today to try out their crawling trail which is made for RC cars that are meant for rock climbing. The trail was made with a combination of plaster and wood and although challenging in some places I found it a bit tiny and too easy. It’s a great idea but too short a trail so I am hoping they have plans to extend it or make a larger one. For now will stick to Bnaider for crawling.

One of my best friends bought a Tamiya car so we went over to the Tamiya track at the Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh to race our cars on their track. I wouldn’t call what we did racing since it was more like a destruction derby but it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.

It was my first time using their new outdoor track and it’s amazing. A lot of nice curves, a good long straight and best of all they have 4 charging stations for our batteries. That means if you have two batteries you could race with one while charging the other and keep swapping for unlimited fun. It costs KD1 to use their track but its really worth it. I later noticed they have a small trail for the Tamiya crawlers so I will pass by tomorrow to try that out. It also turns out tomorrow is an off-road day which means they turn the track into an off-road one with jumps and stuff. I will be taking my Tamiya Frog to try that out as well.

My car shell has taken a lot of abuse from me so I decided to pick one up on the way out. I picked up a Ford Escort Cosworth which is actually my 4th favorite car ever (the first is the Lancia Delta Integrale), Going to paint it this week and hopefully race it next Friday.

Registration is now open for entry into the fifth annual dog show. The show will take place in the beautiful gardens of the British Embassy on Friday March 5th from 11AM to 4PM. I’ve been to their first and second annual dog show and it was a lot of fun. I only missed out on the other two because I was out of the country. It’s very well organized and it’s really great having an event like this in Kuwait. I always sign up my dog to the different categories and even though he always ends failing miserably we still have a really good time. Here is a link to pictures I took at their first annual dog show back in 2006 when my dog was still just a puppy then. [Link]

For more information on the dog show and all the proper forms needed visit the PAWS blog [Here]

Please note that even if you are not entering a dog in the show and just want to go to the event to hang out, you still have to pre-register because it’s being held at the British Embassy. You can’t just show up at the gate and walk in, you need to be pre-registered to be let in.

Seems Arwa has gotten a face lift. A new water bottle and label design is going to be introduced, and compared to the previous bottle, it looks better. It’s not a great redesign but its better than before.

Here is the calendar for Cinemagic’s rooftop movie nights for February. Starting this month they will start charging KD1 for the venue fees including refreshments, popcorn and much more. There are lots of good movies this month, here is the list:

Thursday, February 4th
OUTSOURCED, USA/CANADA 2006
Director: John Jeffcoat
Genre: Comedy | 103 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 13

Saturday, February 6th
WHEN MARIAM SPOKE, LEBANON 2001
Director: Asad Fouladkar
Genre: Drama | 98 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15+

Thursday, February 11th
UNDERGROUND, SERBIA 1995
Director: Emir Kusturica
Genre: Comedy | 170 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 15

Saturday, February 13th
SURPRISE FILM

Thursday, February 18th
HOUSE OF GAMES, USA 1987
Director: David Mamet
Genre: Thriller | 102 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 13

Saturday, February 20th
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, USA 2000
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Genre: Adventure | Mystery | 102 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 18

Thursday, February 25th
CORPSE BRIDE, USA 2005
Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Animation | Drama | 80 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 13

Saturday, February 27th
SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS, GERMANY 2005
Director: Mark Rothemund
Genre: Drama | 127 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15+

Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]

Two weeks back I posted pictures of the GulfRun guys getting their cars washed and stickers applied and now Negative Effect just released a video of that event. I’m looking forward for the video of the actual races since he had a whole bunch of FlipHD cameras setup around all the cars capturing footage from every angle. For now though you can watch this. [YouTube]

This might sound strange but this little store is probably one of my favorite shops in Kuwait. It’s called Teacher’s Cellar and it’s located in Muthana Complex in Kuwait City. The store sells classroom supplies and it’s unbelievable the amount of stuff they were able to shove into the place. It has everything from scratch and sniff stickers to fake plastic food, washable crayola paint, stamps, hand puppets you name it. It’s mostly supplies for kindergarten and primary school classes so that’s why it’s all fun stuff. It’s really an incredible little store and I wish we had more of these little specialty shops in Kuwait.

They’re located on the Mezzanine floor of Muthana Complex opposite the Internet cafe. They also have a pretty decent website which you can check out by clicking [Here]

Last night I was invited to sneak peek a new trendy Italian restaurant called MELENZANÈ. It’s a local creation by two young Kuwaitis who put a great deal of time and effort to create what has to be the most bizarre looking restaurant I’ve seen. The concept is based around mistakes and so you have chairs that are upside down or missing legs, tables on the ceiling, tables crawling up the walls, bottles hanging out of upside down drawers.. just a completely unusual and strange setup. Very cool and it caught me by surprise since when I had checked their website before visiting the place I got the impression it was a classic Italian restaurant. Instead, I got greeted by what an Italian restaurant would look like if it was based in Alice in Wonderland.

They’re still finalizing the dishes but from what I saw and tried, they have a wide range of things to choose from and the prices seemed very reasonable. They’re not open yet but they will next month once the new Bidaa extension opens up which by the way looks amazing. I wanted to take more pictures of the restaurant but the place was dim inside so I only managed to get a few decent ones which you can see below. You can check the MELENZANÈ website but it looks and sounds nothing like the actual place. The mood, colors and music are completely different. Seriously ignore everything especially the cheesy Italian music, when I was there they were playing very cool lounge music and that’s what they will be playing generally. Here is the [Link]

I am about 20 years late but I finally got myself a label maker. I never owned one before but I picked one up today from Ace Hardware. I’ve been making and sticking random labels on anything and everything. At around KD3 its pretty affordable.

Supposedly 3 passengers on a flight from Mumbai to Kuwait didn’t have any seats to sit in and were made to stand for the whole flight. Kuwait Airways is denying this incident took place. Now I am not sure how reliable this news is since according to the news agency that reported this, Kuwait is located in Africa? Very weird. [Link]

I just found an article with pictures of The Avenues Phase III and it looks completely different from Phase I and Phase II… and in a good way. The picture above is one of the shots and the caption talks about how it was designed to look like an outdoor space while the picture below is supposed to be a section that’s modeled on a traditional Kuwaiti souk and would contain an exhibit for the rich cultural heritage of Kuwait. Check out the article for more details and pictures. [Link]

I got an email yesterday from someone at Aston Martin and one thing led to another and I was invited to test drive one of their cars. So, after work I passed by the dealership which is located in the same place where Auto City used to be before they closed down. When I walked in I was completely surprised at how big the dealership was. According to them its actually the largest Aston Martin dealership in the world which I thought was pretty cool. The dealership is divided into three floors. On the top floor they have a collection of vintage Aston Martins including a very rare station wagon and an Aston Martin DB5 similar to the one from the James Bond movie Goldfinger. One the ground floor they have a large display of new cars and also a small Aston Martin boutique while the basement contained some pre-owned vehicles. After the tour I was finally led to my test vehicle, the Aston Martin Vantage. Sigh… what a beautiful car.

After a quick tour of how everything works I took off for a drive. The first thing I needed to get used to was the speedometer. With my Wrangler, when the speedometer needle is up in the middle it means I am going 100KM/h. In my Z4 when the speedometer is up in the middle it means I am going around 140KM/h. In the Aston Martin when the needle is pointing straight up you’re going 300KM/h. So I was driving thinking I was going maybe 60 or 80KM/h because the needle was still very low but then I took a look at the number next to the needle and I wish I could say how fast I was going but I don’t think I can without getting into trouble. It was very cool. Another thing I liked about the car is that it’s pretty quiet and comfortable when driving normally but as soon as you hit 4000RPM it turns into a beast like a werewolf under a full moon. Actually I think that’s what I liked most about the car, its a very comfortable day to day car when you want it to be and then step on it and you’re suddenly in a loud and aggressive sports car. I now totally understand why Jeremy Clarkson loves the Aston Martins so much.

Just before I took the car back to the dealership I decided to pass by the Avenues parking lot to take some pictures. I wish I had the car for at least a day or even a weekend but I am not going to be too greedy. They did promise me that I would get to test drive their other cars as well. So maybe the DB9 next and then a DBS after that.

Anyway if you want to check out their cars they will be on display at the Concours d’Elegance which I posted about 2 weeks back. The Concours d’Elegance is going to be held at Marina Mall and Crescent from the 20th to the 23rd. The Aston Martins will be on display near Le Notre. It’s the first time the Concours d’Elegance is being held in Kuwait so don’t miss out.

Update: Forgot to mention but the One-77 was in Kuwait 2 weeks ago!

I love burgers and I’m glad my new nutrition plan includes burgers once a week because I don’t think I could have stuck to a plan that didn’t allow room for burgers. This past weekend I headed to 360 Mall for the Gulf Run 5 car show but first I decided to have lunch at The Meat Co. I had been wanting to try their burgers ever since my first visit but I never got the chance until now. I have to say, this was the hardest burger to review and I’ll explain why below.

I got to The Meat Co. early and decided to sit on the balcony overlooking Life with Cacao and Lorenzo. The friendly waiter gave me the menu and I flipped right away to their burger section. They had 6 burgers to choose from, the Classic Burger, the Cheese Burger, the Gourmet Burger (who the hell puts pineapple on a burger, totally gross), Rib Meat Burger, Lamb Burger and Chicken Burger. I went with the Cheese Burger although next time I will most probably go with their Rib Meat Burger and then maybe their Lamb Burger after that. I ordered my burger medium which is cool because when I first started this burger challenge I used to have my burgers well done but then as I started reading more about burgers and really getting into it I started having it medium well. To move to medium is a step in the right direction although I don’t think I would have a medium burger just anywhere.

The burger arrived and it looked beautiful. The shape, the size, the way everything was very tidy it just looked like the perfect burger. I took my first bite and in under a minute or two max I had finished the burger. It was the healthiest burger I’ve ever had and I’m talking about the actual beef patty here. It just tasted like it was made with really great quality meat. It wasn’t heavy, it didn’t have a bad after taste, it wasn’t fatty and it was very light on the stomach. It had the makings of a perfect burger which is why it was very difficult to review. There was very little flavor. It was lacking oomph which is why maybe next time I would get rid of the vegetables and put some mustard to see if that helps.

If I want to be extra nitpicky I would talk about how I am not a big fan of powdery buns but I in this case it didn’t bother me that much. My burger was very juicy and the bun didn’t have any trouble holding up, it didn’t get soggy which is always great. Speaking of juiciness, my burger arrived medium well instead of medium but that was fine. The final score is going to be a 4 out of 5. I would highly recommend it, it’s a near perfect classic burger. At KD5.500 its actually a steal.

The Meat Co. is located in 360 Mall
The cost of the Cheese Burger was KD5.500

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
Wimpy

Just got back from my first 20 minute session at Core Fitness… it was grueling, really tough and I realized I am more out of shape than Homer Simpson. The scariest part was when it came to my last exercise which was for my abs. My trainer wanted me to do 150 different types of crunches, 150! I couldn’t go through with it, at 60 I was dead or at least wished I was dead. But, on a positive note, I didn’t puke although I was really close at one point. Anyway I got my stats and final diet plan which I will share with everyone below. Once I am done with my 7 weeks we’ll go back to these stats to see how much I changed. The diet plan below was created for me. It might look a bit strange but it was created around my daily routine, the places I usually go eat at and based on what I like to eat. I don’t cook at home so 90% of it is based on restaurant food. Before I share the stats and diet plan, here is a message from the owner of Core Fitness explaining what you will be seeing.

Mark is not fat. This may surprise a lot of you due to his hunger for really greasy food, but he’s actually good in respect to his weight and height. What we’re trying to do is achieve “re-composition”. Simply put, we’re exchanging fat with muscle. For an individual his height (6’1), anything below 80kg is too light. Our goal is to stay within the 80-85kg range, shed some fat and gain some muscle. Since Mark’s been inactive for a while, any short intense activity will suffice in order to reach his goals.

Nutritionally, his eating patterns were [slightly] healthy to begin with:
1) He ate breakfast early, but ditched healthy protein and splurged on McDonald’s pancakes and maple syrup.
2) He didn’t eat frequently, which in turn slowed down his metabolism.
3) He ate dinner early due to the acid reflux he was suffering from.

Like I said earlier, Mark isn’t fat; he just needs a metabolic boost. Not much was done in terms of nutrition since he already has been taking care of himself by avoiding heavily greased foods such as french fries. Core Fitness does not have one nutrition program that everyone can use; we sit with each individual and review their daily routines. Many people actually eat right, but fail in terms of nutrition timing which include eating breakfast too late, skimping on metabolism boosting snacks or eating one meal a day. I’ve based the diet on Mark’s preferences, which is what we accomplish with all clients.

Lastly, we’ve enrolled Mark in a Fat-loss program that includes weight-lifting, body-weight training and aerobics; all packaged into 20 minutes of training.

Regards,
Fahad Khalid AlYehya